Sources of New York Law
Pointers and Lists
Cornell LII - New York - List of New York resources from the Legal Information Institute.
New York State Legislative Library - Legislative resources including session laws and local laws.
Statutes
Free Official/Semi-Official Sources
New York State Legislature - Laws of New York - Official unannotated text of the Consolidated Laws and unconsolidated laws. Access via web interface; no API. Updated regularly.
NY Senate Open Legislation - Provides current statutory text through the same platform as bills. Free REST API available (requires registration for API key).
Paid Annotated Codes
McKinney’s Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated (Westlaw/Thomson Reuters) - The primary annotated code used by practitioners. Includes case annotations, practice commentaries, and session law citations. Subscription required.
New York Consolidated Laws Service (CLS) (Lexis) - Alternative annotated code with similar features. Subscription required.
Session Laws
- NYS Legislative Library - Laws of the State passed at the sessions of the Legislature.
Bills in Flight
Official Sources
NY Assembly Bill Search - Official Assembly bill tracking. Web interface for searching current and prior session bills.
NY Senate Open Legislation - Primary resource for real-time bill tracking. Offers a free REST API (registration required). Includes bill text, sponsors, committee assignments, votes, and status. Code on GitHub.
Leginfo - Older official interface for bill search, still functional.
Third-Party Tracking
- LegiScan - New York - Aggregates NY legislative data with API access. Free tier available; enhanced features require subscription.
Legislative History
Legislative history materials for New York, including: bills, sponsor’s memoranda, governor’s messages, bill jackets, and (sometimes) hearing transcripts.
Research Guides
- NYS Library Legislative History Tutorial - Research tutorial from the State Library.
- NYU Law - NY Legislative History - Academic research guide.
- Brooklyn Law - NYS Legislative History - Detailed guide with finding aids.
- Georgetown Law - NY Legislative History - Overview of available documents and locations.
Bill Jackets
Bill jackets contain memoranda, correspondence, and other materials considered by the Governor when signing or vetoing bills. Unique to New York legislative history research.
NYS Archives Digital Collections - Bill Jackets - Free PDF downloads of Governor’s bill jackets from 1995 to present. Searchable by year, chapter, or keyword.
NYS Library Bill Jackets - Holdings for 1905 and 1921-2009 (microform and CD-ROM). Some digitized in library’s digital collections.
Session Laws and Governor’s Messages
- Governor’s approval and veto messages are published with the Session Laws and are often the most accessible legislative history documents.
Regulations
Current Regulations
NYCRR on Westlaw and Lexis - Official and annotated NYCRR available on commercial platforms. Subscription required.
Unofficial NYCRR on Westlaw - Free browsable collection.
Cornell LII - NYCRR - Free browsable collection of NY regulations by title. Clean interface.
Proposed Rules and Rulemaking
- New York State Register - Official journal of state government published weekly. Contains Notices of Proposed Rule Making and Notices of Adoption. Free online from 2015-present.
Historical Regulations
- NYCRR Digital Archive (UB Law Library) - Free access to superseded NYCRR pages (“takeouts”) for 1945-2001 in PDF format.
Agency-Specific
Individual agencies often publish their regulations on their own websites (e.g., DEC Regulations, Education Department).
Judicial Opinions
Official Free Sources
NY Courts - Official Reports - Free access to Court of Appeals and Appellate Division decisions from 1956-present. Slip opinions available same-day for Court of Appeals. Web interface; no public API.
Court-PASS - Court of Appeals Public Access and Search System. Free access to Court of Appeals materials for cases filed after January 1, 2013.
NY eCourts - Case information and filings for state courts. Primarily docket/status information rather than full opinions.
NYSCEF Case Search - New York State Courts Electronic Filing system. Access to filed documents in participating courts.
Free Third-Party Sources
Justia - Free NY case law database.
Findlaw - NY Supreme Court opinions from 1959-present.
Google Scholar - Searchable NY case law. Free but unofficial.
Paid Commercial Databases
Westlaw (Thomson Reuters) - Comprehensive NY case law with headnotes, KeyCite citator, and secondary sources. Subscription required.
Lexis+ (LexisNexis) - Comparable coverage with Shepard’s citator. Subscription required.